Bhopal, June 21 (IANS): Congress workers and agitating farmers in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday made their point against the state government by performing 'shavasana' -- the dead body posture -- on the occasion of the International Yoga Day.

The protest was led by Congress' Madhya Pradesh state unit chief Arun Yadav in front of the party office in Bhopal, where party members and activists lay down on the road.

Yadav said the farmers of the state were going through a very bad phase, and alleged that the peasants are shot dead when they demand their rights. 

"They are not getting the right prices for their crops. Farmers are committing suicide, but the state government is least concerned about them," he said. 

Yadav said that 'shavasana' was performed against the state government's apathy towards the farmers and to pay tribute to those killed in police firing. 

Similar protests were organised in different districts of the state. 

Beside the Congress, the farmers' association also staged similar protests across the state. In Harda, the Aam Kisan Union on the call of the Bharatiya Kisan Union staged 'shavasan' protest against the anti-farmer policies of the state government. 

Aam Kisan Union leader Kedar Sirohi, however, said that their protest was not linked with the Congress protest. 

The protest comes in the wake of the killing of five farmers in police firing in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district on June 6.

Farmers of the state had staged a demonstration against the state government from June 1 to June 10, demanding remunerative prices for their produce and loan waiver. 

On June 6, five farmers were killed in police firing while another died from his injuries later. In the past nine days, 15 farmers have committed suicide in the state.